Well today was a very good day for me- finally got to try my first burn with my BK Insert. I have been out of the country working 6 out of the past 7 weeks so when I arrived in Boston last night I could instantly tell the difference in temp from when I left in early September. I just knew that today would be the day to fire off the new stove. I am not new to wood burning, have heated my 2400sq home primarily with wood for the past 10 years (lopi freedom insert). After ten years of hard use, and some abuse as a new wood burner the early years, I decided this past summer to upgrade everything. I lined the flue with an insulated heavy flex, fabbed a block off plate, replaced the rain cap with a 16" high SS cap to ensure proper height for the liner, and of course the new BK...
So I could use some basic guidance to properly learn how to use this heater. I of course read the manual and followed the steps listed for first fire- that was after conducting the dollar bill test on all 4 sides of the door. No adjustment needed. I opened the bypass, put the air control on max, and lit the crumpled paper and kinderlin leaving the door closed but not latched. After it took off and the thermostat was just at the active line, I closed the bypass and turned on the fan. I was simply amazed, like a kid with a new toy, when the cat became active. After about 30 min I started to dial back the air control, about 2 positions at a time. Then after about 45 min all hell broke loose.... The smoke detectors in the house were going off and my wife was walking around with her fingers in her ears.... I opened up all the doors and windows and put an industrial exhaust fan on to pull out the smoke. Now I knew what the cause was, curing paint, but did not expect to actually see blowing smoke from were the blower air comes from. After about 20 min of windows and doors open, things started to settle down.
I am now looking to better understand how I should run this stove from the beginning, I don't want to repeat the abuse I put my lopi through 10 years ago. Here are a few questions I have, also anyone with words of advise for how to dial in my procedures would be very much welcome. Oh and one word on the wood I burn, I buy my wood in tree length and process myself, cut split and stacked in wood shed for minimum of 20-24 months. (Mixed oak, ash, maple) so it is in pretty good shape.
Once the cat is active, should I keep dialing the air back until I see no flames on the wood? Or will the coils self adjust - I really don't understand how this work....
Is the objective to find the point were the cat is glowing 100% of the time? If so do I keep adjusting the air to maintain a glow?
Do you really have to match the fan speed to the approximate setting of the air control?
Once I am burning 24x7 - is it possible to just reload and keep the air control in one position?
When I close the bypass it seems to stop a little before fully closed, I have to push it the last little bit to get it seal completely - is this normal?
Is it normal to hear a low whistling (for lack of a better word) coming from the air control side of the stove?
Now I know everyone's situation is unique, but I am hoping to get some good advise to dial in my procedures for using this new stove and some answers to my initial questions.
Thanks in advance
TomD
So I could use some basic guidance to properly learn how to use this heater. I of course read the manual and followed the steps listed for first fire- that was after conducting the dollar bill test on all 4 sides of the door. No adjustment needed. I opened the bypass, put the air control on max, and lit the crumpled paper and kinderlin leaving the door closed but not latched. After it took off and the thermostat was just at the active line, I closed the bypass and turned on the fan. I was simply amazed, like a kid with a new toy, when the cat became active. After about 30 min I started to dial back the air control, about 2 positions at a time. Then after about 45 min all hell broke loose.... The smoke detectors in the house were going off and my wife was walking around with her fingers in her ears.... I opened up all the doors and windows and put an industrial exhaust fan on to pull out the smoke. Now I knew what the cause was, curing paint, but did not expect to actually see blowing smoke from were the blower air comes from. After about 20 min of windows and doors open, things started to settle down.
I am now looking to better understand how I should run this stove from the beginning, I don't want to repeat the abuse I put my lopi through 10 years ago. Here are a few questions I have, also anyone with words of advise for how to dial in my procedures would be very much welcome. Oh and one word on the wood I burn, I buy my wood in tree length and process myself, cut split and stacked in wood shed for minimum of 20-24 months. (Mixed oak, ash, maple) so it is in pretty good shape.
Once the cat is active, should I keep dialing the air back until I see no flames on the wood? Or will the coils self adjust - I really don't understand how this work....
Is the objective to find the point were the cat is glowing 100% of the time? If so do I keep adjusting the air to maintain a glow?
Do you really have to match the fan speed to the approximate setting of the air control?
Once I am burning 24x7 - is it possible to just reload and keep the air control in one position?
When I close the bypass it seems to stop a little before fully closed, I have to push it the last little bit to get it seal completely - is this normal?
Is it normal to hear a low whistling (for lack of a better word) coming from the air control side of the stove?
Now I know everyone's situation is unique, but I am hoping to get some good advise to dial in my procedures for using this new stove and some answers to my initial questions.
Thanks in advance
TomD
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